The Late Great Robert Hardy

Robert Hardy, who played Siegfried Farnon on the highly popular TV show All Creatures Great and Small and appeared in numerous shows and films, died today at the age of 91.

Robert Hardy was born on October 29 1925 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. His father was the headmaster at Cheltenham College. He attended Rugby School and Magdalen College at the University of Oxford. Among his tutors when he was at the University of Oxford were legendary authors C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. He served in the Royal Air Force during World War II.

Following the war he began his acting career. He made his television debut in 1951 in an episode of Michèle and René. He played the title role in a BBC mini-series production of David Copperfield and played Henry, Prince of Wales in the series An Age of Kings. He guest starred on the TV shows The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, The Buccaneers, BBC Sunday-Night Theatre, Studio One, Buckskin, and General Electric Theatre. He appeared in a television production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. His film debut was in 1958 in Torpedo Run. After World War II he frequently appeared in Shakespearean roles on stage. In 1959 he played opposite Lord Laurence Olivier in Coriolanus at Stratford-upon-Avon and later in Henry V.

In the Sixties he starred in the television series The Dark Island, The Spread of the Eagle, Daniel Deroda, Manhunt, and Mogul. He guest starred on such shows as Somerset Maugham Hour, The Baron, ITV Playhouse, The Saint, The Wednesday Play, Strange Report, The Doctors, and Armchair Theatre. He appeared in the films The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), How I Won the War (1967), and Berserk (1967).

It was in 1978 that Robert Hardy was cast in the role of cantankerous veterinarian Siegfried Farnon on All Creatures Great and Small. The show ran for three series. It would be revived in 1988 and ran for another four series, with Mr. Hardy once more in the role Siegfried. In the Seventies he also played Robert Dudley (Earl of Leicester) in the mini-series Elizabeth R. He guest starred on such shows as Thirty-Minute Theatre; ITV Saturday Night Theatre; Love Story; Hallmark Hall of Fame; Edward the King; Upstairs, Downstairs; Raffles; Buck Rogers in the 25th Century; and Mrs. Columbo. He appeared in such films as Young Winston (1972), Demons of the Mind (1972), Dark Places (1973), Psychomania (1973), Le silencieux (1973), Gawain and the Green Knight (1973), and Yellow Dog (1973).

In the Eighties Mr. Hardy once more played Siegfried on All Creatures Great and Small. He starred as Winston Churchill in Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years and played him again in the mini-series War and Remembrance. He also appeared in the mini-series The Cleopatras, The Far Pavilions, and Jenny's War. He starred on the show Hot Metal. Robert Hardy guest starred on such shows as Shades of Darkness and Bulman, He appeared in the films The Shooting Party (1985) and Paris by Night (1988).

In the Nineties he continued to appear as Siegfried on All Creatures Great and Small. He starred on the show Look at the State We're In!. He appeared in the mini-series Middlemarch, Gulliver's Travels, and The 10th Kingdom. He guest starred on the shows The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Morse, Bramwell, and Midsomer Murders. He appeared in the films Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), A Feast at Midnight (1994), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Mrs Dalloway (1997), The Tichborne Claimant (1998), and An Ideal Husband (1999).

In the Naughts Robert Hardy appeared in the films The Gathering (2002), Thunderpants (2002), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Making Waves (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Lassie (2005), Goodbye Mr Snuggles (2006), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Framed (2008), and Old Harry (2009). He guest starred on the shows Foyle's War, Spooks, Agatha Christie's Marple, and Inspector Lewis. He appeared in the mini-series Shackleton and Little Dorrit.

In the Teens Mr. Hardy appeared in the TV movie Churchill: 100 Days That Saved Britain (2015), once more playing Winston Churchill, and in the movie Joseph's Reel (2015).

Robert Hardy was a remarkable actor with a good deal of versatility. Indeed, the two roles for which he was best known were entirely different. The irascible, eccentric Siegfried on All Creatures Great and Small was a far cry from Winston Churchill. What is more, Mr. Hardy played yet other characters that were very different from both Siegfried and Churchill. Cornelius Fudge in the "Harry Potter" movies was more Neville Chamberlain than Winston Churchill. In "The Desperate Diplomat", an episode of The Saint, he played an outright villain--Walter Faber, who is holding a diplomat's daughter hostage. He played a number of historical figures besides Winston Churchill, including King Henry V, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Prince Albert, and King Richard the Lionhearted. Robert Hardy was an immensely talented actor who play a wide array of roles and play all of them well.

Sam Shepard R.I.P.

Playwright, screenwriter, and actor Sam Shepard died on July 27  2017 at the age of 73. The cause was complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Sam Shepard was born Samuel Shepard Rogers III on November 5 1943 in Fort Sheridan, Illinois. He grew up on the family avocado farm near Duarte, California. As a young man he worked a variety of jobs, including work as a stablehand, an orange picker, and a sheep shearer. He briefly studied agriculture at  Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, California, but dropped in 1962 to move to New York City.  There he became involved in Off-Broadway theatre.

It was not long before Mr. Shepard began writing plays. His first was Cowboys in 1964. During the Sixties he wrote several more plays, including Chicago (1965), La Turista (1967), The Unseen Hand (1969), and The Holy Ghostly (1969), among others. The Seventies would see Sam Shepard come into his own as a playwright. He wrote and performed Cowboy Mouth (1971) with Patti Smith. His 1978 play Curse of the Starving Class would later be adapted as the 1994 film of the same name. His 1979 play Buried Child  won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His 1980 play True West was a finalist for the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama In the Seventies he also wrote such plays as The Tooth of the Crime (1972), Action (1975), Angel City (1976), and Suicide in B Flat (1976), among others.

The Eighties saw Mr. Shepard's 1983 play Fool for Love be a finalist for the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His 1985 play A Lie of the Mind won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play, and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Play. In the Nineties Mr. Shepard wrote the plays States of Shock (1991),  Simpatico (1993), :Eyes for Consuela (1998), and The Late Henry Moss (2000). In 1996 he revised his play The Tooth of the Crime as Tooth of Crime: Second Dance. From the Naughts into the Teens he wrote the plays The God of Hell (2004), Kicking a Dead Horse (2007), Agnes of the Moon (2009), Heatless (2012), and A Particle of Dread (Oedipus Variations) (2014).

Sam Shepard was also a screenwriter. His first writing credit was on Me and My Brother (1969). It was followed by Zabriskie Point (1970). Over the years he wrote screenplays for such films as Renaldo and Clara (1978), Savage/Love (1981), Paris, Texas (1984), Fool for Love (1985--based on his play of the same name), Far North (1988), Silent Tongue (1993), and Don't Come Knocking (2005).

In addition to his careers as a playwright and screenwriter, Mr. Shepard also had a very successful acting career. According to IMDB, his film debut was in the rather obscure film Brand X in 1970. In the late Seventies he appeared in the films Renaldo and Clara (1978), Days of Heaven (1978), and Resurrection (1980).  In the Eighties he played Chuck Yeager in the movie The Right Stuff (1983), for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He also appeared in the films Raggedy Man (1981), Frances (1982), Country (1984), Fool for Love (1985), Crimes of the Heart (1986), Baby Boom (1987), Steel Magnolias (1989), and Bright Angel (1990).

In the Nineties Sam Shepard appeared in the films Homo Faber (1991), Defenceless (1991), Thunderheart (1992), The Pelican Brief (1993), Safe Passage (1994), The Only Thrill (1997), Curtain Call (1998), Snow Falling on Cedars (1999), Hamlet (2000), and All the Pretty Horses (2000). He also appeared on television. He appeared in the TV movies The Good Old Boys (1995), Purgatory (1999), and Dash and Lilly (1999). He appeared in the mini-series Streets of Laredo and in the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation Lily Dale.

In the Naughts Sam Shepard appeared in such films as Swordfish (2001), Black Hawk Down (2001), Blind Horizon (2003), The Notebook (2004), Walker Payne (2006), The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), The Accidental Husband (2008), Brothers (2009), and Fair Game (2010).  In the Teens Mr. Shepard had roles in the TV shows Klondike and Bloodline. He appeared in such films as Blackthorn (2011), Savannah (2013), August: Osage County (2013), Ithaca (2015), and Midnight Special (2016). His last appearance was in Never Here, set to be released later this year.

Arguably, Sam Shepard was one of the greatest playwrights of the late 20th Century. His plays were simultaneously a deconstruction of the mythology of the Old West and a tribute to it. Mr. Shepard's West was one where there was no such thing as certainty and family relations could be complicated at best. His characters were three-dimensional while at the same time drawing upon archetypes common to American Western iconography. Of course, he was also a great screenwriter and his films had a lot in common with his plays.

While he was a great playwright and screenwriter, I rather suspect Sam Shepard is most familiar to audiences for his acting career. And he was a great actor. He was well suited to playing legendary, American icons, and he played several of them throughout his career, including Chuck Yeager, Wild Bill Hickcock, Dashiell Hammett, and Frank James. Sam Shepard was very versatile, and played a number of different sorts of characters in his career. He played farmer and devoted husband Pea Eye Parker in the mini-series Streets of Laredo. In Baby Boom he was the love interest, veterinarian Dr. Jeff Cooper. In Steel Magnolias he was the work-shy Spud Jones. He played a wide variety of characters throughout his career, and played all of them well. In the end Mr. Shepard was one of those rare multi-talents: a great playwright, a great screenwriter, and a great actor.

Jeanne Moreau Passes On

Legendary French actress Jeanne Moreau died today at the age of 89.

Jeanne Moreau was born on January 23 1928 in Paris, France. Her father was the owner of a hotel and restaurant in Paris. Her mother was a dancer who had performed at the Folies Bergère. She decided to become an actress when as a teenager she saw her first play, Antigone. She studied acting at the Conservatoire National d’Art Dramatique. Miss Moreau became a member of the Comédie-Française when she was 20, making her the youngest ever full member of the theatre. She made her debut as a professional actress in  Ivan Turgenev's A Month in the Country. She made her film debut in Dernier amour in 1949. She also appeared in the films Meurtres (1950) and Pigalle-Saint-Germain-des-Prés (1950). She joined the Théâtre National Populaire.

In the Fifties she appeared in such films as L'homme de ma vie (1952), Julietta (1953), Touchez pas au grisbi (1954), Secrets d'alcôve (1954), Queen Margot (1954), Les hommes en blanc (1955), Le salaire du péché (1956), Les louves (1957), and Trois jours à vivre (1957). It would be the late Fifties that would see Jeanne Moreau's career take off. In 1958 she starred in Louis Malle's Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (Elevator to the Gallows in English). The same year she appeared in Mr. Malle's Les amants (The Lovers in English). Towards the end of the decade Miss Moreau appeared in such films as Les liaisons dangereuses (1959), Le dialogue des Carmélites (1960), and Moderato cantabile (1960). She had a cameo in François Truffaut's Les quatre cents coups (1959--known in English as The 400 Blows).

The Sixties would see Jeanne Moreau appear in what might be her most famous role, that of Catherine in Jules et Jim (1962). She also appeared in such notable films as La Notte (1961), Le procès (1962--in English The Trial), Eva (1962), Le journal d'une femme de chambre (1964--in English Diary of a Chambermaid), The Train (1964), Chimes at Midnight (1965), Viva Maria! (1965), Le plus vieux métier du monde (1967--English title The Oldest Profession), La mariée était en noir (1968--English title The Bride Wore Black), The Deep (1970). and Monte Walsh (1970).

In the Seventies Miss Moreau appeared in such films as Chère Louise (1972), Nathalie Granger (1972), Les Valseuses (1974), Joanna Francesa (1975), Hu-Man (1975), Mr. Klein (1976), The Last Tycoon (1976),  and Chansons souvenirs (1980). She also appeared on television, in the teleplay La chevauchée sur le lac de Constance (1974) and an episode of the TV show Arena.

In the Eighties she appeared in the films Plein sud (1981), Your Ticket Is No Longer Valid (1981), Mille milliards de dollars (1982), Querelle (1982), La Truite (The Trout) (1982), Le paltoquet (1986), Le miraculé (1987), Jour après jour (1989), and Nikita (1990). She appeared in the TV show Shades of Darkness and the mini-series Le tiroir secret.

In the Nineties she appeared in the films La vieille qui marchait dans la mer (1991--in English The Old Lady Who Walked in the Sea), Bis ans Ende der Welt (1991), Map of the Human Heart (1992),  L'absence (1992), Al di là delle nuvole (1995), I Love You, I Love You Not (1996), Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998), and Il manoscritto del principe (2000). She appeared in the TV films Catherine the Great (1996) and Balzac (1999), as well as the mini-series Les Misérables.

In the Naughts Miss Moreau appeared in such films as Cet amour-là (2001), Les parents terribles (2003), Autogram (2005), Le temps qui reste (2005), Go West (2005), Roméo et Juliette (2006), Disengagement (2007), Plus Tard (2008), and Visage (2009). She appeared on television in the mini-series Les rois maudits, TV movie La contessa di Castiglione (2006), and an episode of Collection Fred Vargas.

In the Teens Jeanne Moreau starred in the TV series Le tourbillon de Jeanne. She appeared in the films Une Estonienne à Paris (2012) and Gebo et l'ombre (2012). Her last appearance on screen was in Le talent de mes amis in 2015.

Jeanne Moreau also had a very successful career on stage. In 1954 she appeared in a production of Jean Cocteau's La Machine Infernale. In the Seventies she appeared in such plays as La chevauchée sur le lac de Constance and Lulu. In 1988 she won the Molière award for her performance in Le Récit de la Servante Zerline. In the Sixties she released several record albums.

Jeanne Moreau directed films as well as starred in them. She directed the drama Lumiere (1976), the drama L'adolescente (1979), and the documentary Lillian Gish (1983).

Perhaps no other actress is as identified with the French New Wave as Jeanne Moreau was. This should not be surprising, as she appeared in some of the best known films to emerge from the movement, including Ascenseur pour l'échafaud, Les amants, and Jules et Jim. If she was very much in demand by the directors of the French New Wave, it was perhaps because of her extraordinary talent. Miss Moreau was less of a movie star than she was a character actress. Quite simply, she could play any role given to her and she could play it well. She was the mercurial Catherine in Jules et Jim. She was the bored housewife in Les amants. In The Bride Wore Black she was the vengeful bride of the title. Miss Moreau could play nearly anything, from the manipulative chambermaid in Le journal d'une femme de chambre to a grandmother in her final film, Le talent de mes amis. It is little wonder that her career spanned  70 years. Jeanne Moreau was truly one of the great actress of European cinema.

British Invaders Blogathon Reminder

This is just a reminder that the British Invaders Blogathon will take place this coming weekend, August 4, 5, and 6. If you want to take part there is still time! Visit the original post here.

"Pictues of Matchstick Men" by Status Quo

This week I have felt tired and worn out all week, so tonight I will leave you with one of my favourite songs. "Pictures of Matchstick Men" was the first single for legendary British band Status Quo. It also happened to be their first major hit. The song reached no. 7 on the British singles chart. Status Quo would go onto chart many more times in the United Kingdom, so many times that they hold the record for the most hits on the chart of any band there. Surprisingly enough, "Pictures of Matchstick Men" would be their only hit in the United States, reaching no. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Late Great June Foray

June Foray, the legendary voice artist who provided the voice for such characters as Rocky J. Squirrel in the Rocky and Bullwinkle franchise, both Granny (originally voiced by Bea Benaderet) and Witch Hazel (also originally voiced by Bea Benaderet) and many other characters in Warner Bros. cartoons, the cat Lucifer in the Disney classic Cinderella, and many other cartoon characters, died yesterday at the age of 99.

June Foray was born June Lucille Forer on September 18 1917 in Springfield, Massachusetts. She made her radio debut in Springfield when she was only 12 years old. By the time that she was 15 years old she was regularly doing voice work in radio. Her family moved to Los Angeles two years after Miss Foray graduated from high school. It was not long before she had her own radio show, Lady Make Believe, which she not only hosted, but also wrote as well. June Foray worked extensively in radio. From 1944 to 1952 she provided the voices for Midnight the Cat and Old Grannie on The Buster Brown Program. From 1945 to 1947 she provided various voices for Smile Time. She was also regularly provided voices for The Jimmy Durante Show, CBS Radio Workshop, and The Stan Freberg Show. Her career in radio would continue after the age of Old Time Radio ended. She guest starred on Sears Radio Theatre in 1979 and then Adventures in Odyssey in 2007.

June Foray made her film debut in the Walter Lantz animated short "The Egg Cracker Suite' as the voice of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in 1943. She first worked for Warner Bros. on the short "The Unbearable Bear", providing various voices. She was also the voice of a cigarette girl in Tex Avery's classic MGM short "Red Hot Riding Hood" (1943). In addition to various shorts in the late Forties, Miss Foray also provided the voice of Lucifer the cat in the classic Disney film Cinderella (1950).


It was in the late Fifties that June Foray first provided the voice for Rocket J. Squirrel, better known simply as "Rocky". In 1959 the Jay Ward Productions TV show Rocky and His Friends debuted on ABC. It ran on ABC until 1961, whereupon it moved to NBC and was retitled The Bullwinkle Show. On NBC it ran for a single season in primetime before being moved elsewhere on the schedule. NBC cancelled the show in 1964, but it ran in reruns on various networks until 1973. June Foray would voice Rocky in various revivals of Rocky and Bullwinkle, as well as TV commercials and the 2000 feature The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. In addition to Rocky, June Foray also voiced Rocky and Bullwinkle's archenemy Natasha Fatale on the show, as well as Nell Fenwick in the Dudley Do-Right segments.

In addition to her work on Rocky and Bullwinkle, June Foray did other work on television in the Fifties. She provided voices for the animated series as The Woody Woodpecker Show, The Huckleberry Hound Show, and Mister Magoo. She also provided incidental voices for live action shows, including that of a dog on I Love Lucy, an operator on Father Knows Best, an operator on The Jack Benny Program, and the voice of a dummy on Johnny Staccato, as well a voice for Rawhide.  Miss Foray also made a rare appearance in front of the camera on television in the Fifties, appearing on The Ray Milland Show: Meet Mr. McNulty. As might expected, June Foray continued to provide voices for theatrical animated shorts. She first voiced Granny in the Bugs Bunny short "This is a Life" (1955). She first voiced Waner Bros.' Witch Hazel in the Bugs Bunny short "Broom-Stick Bunny" (1956).  In addition to her work with Warner Bros., she also provided voices for shorts produced by MGM, Walt Disney Productions, Walter Lantz, and  Hanna-Barbera Productions. Miss Foray also provided voices for animated features, including Disney's Peter Pan (1953) and the English dub of The Snow Queen (1955). She made a rare live action appearance in the feature film Sabaka (1954). She also provided incidental voices for live-action feature films, including Susan Slept Here (1954) and It's Always Fair Weather (1955).

In the Sixties June Foray continued to provide the voice of Rocky J. Squirrel. She also provided voices for other animated TV shows, including The Alvin Show, Calvin and the Colonel, George of the Jungle, Off to See the Wizard, Here Comes the Grump, and The Pink Panther Show. She provided voices for the Beetle Bailey and Krazy Kat television animated shorts. She also provided incidental voices for live action TV shows, the most famous perhaps being Talky Tina in the Twilight Zone episode "Living Doll". She also provided voices for such live action shows as The Red Skelton Show, Gilligan's Island, 12 O' Clock High, Bewitched, It's About Time, Lost in Space, The Brady Bunch, and Get Smart. She made a rare live action appearance on Green Acres. She provided the voice of Cindy Lou Who in the classic TV special How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, the Rankin/Bass special Mouse on the Mayflower, Frosty the Snowman, and The Pogo Special Birthday Special. She continued to provide voices for theatrical animated shorts, as well as voices for the animated feature The Phantom Tollbooth (1970).

In the Seventies June Foray provided voices for the children's show The Curiosity Shop and the animated shows These Are the Days, The Pink Panther Laugh and a Half Hour and a Half Show, and Heathcliff. She provided voices for several TV specials, including The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn't, The Cricket in Times Square, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, and Mowgli's Brothers. She continued to provide voices for animated shorts.

 In the Eighties June Foray regularly provided voices for various Saturday morning cartoons. She was the voice of Aunt May on Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, the voice of Jokey Smurf on The Smurfs, Grandma on Teen Wolf, Grandma Cavemom on The Flintstone Kids, and both Ma Beagle and Magica De Spell on DuckTales. She provided additional voices on such cartoons as The Incredible Hulk, Saturday Supercade, and Alvin & the Chipmunks. Miss Foray was a guest voice on The Simpsons. She also provided voices for animated television specials, including Faeries, Happily Ever After, and others. June Foray made a live action appearance as herself on the sitcom The Duck Factory. She continued to work in movie shorts, and provided voices for the feature film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).

In the Nineties Miss Foray again worked on several animated television cartoons. She was the voice of Grammi Gummi on The Adventures of the Gummi Bears, Granny on Tiny Toon Adventures, Martha Wilson on The All-New Dennis the Menace, and Granny on The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries. She provided additional voices for yet other television cartoons. She also provided voices on episodes of the live action sitcoms Married...With Children and Weird Science. She provided voices for the feature films Thumbelina (1994), Space Jam (1996), Mulan (1998), and The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000). She also continued to provide voices for animated shorts.

In the Naughts June Foray provided the voice of Granny on the animated series Baby Looney Tunes. She made a voice cameo as Rocky on Family Guy. She was also a guest voice on such animated shows as The Powerpuff Girls, Duck Dodgers, and The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. She was the voice of Granny in Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), Grandmother Fa in Mulan II (2004), and Mama Sasquatch in The Legend of Sasquatch (2006). She continued to provide voices for animated shorts.

In the Teens Miss Foray was the voice of Granny on The Looney Tunes Show. She was a guest voice on The Garfield Show. She continued to do voices for animated shorts. Fittingly, her last credit was as Rocky in the animated short "Rocky and Bullwinkle" (2014).

June Foray also provided voices for video games related to Warner Bros. cartoons and DuckTales, as well as the video game Lego Island. In the 1940s she recorded children's records for Capitol Records and in the Fifties she recorded comedy records with fellow voice artist Stan Freberg.  Miss Foray was also the original voice of Mattel's highly popular talking doll Chatty Cathy in the Sixties.

In additional to being the industry's foremost female voice artist, June Foray was one of animation's biggest champions. She was an early member of ASIFA-Hollywood (a branch of Association Internationale du Film d'Animation or the International Animated Film Association). As part of ASIFA-Hollywood, Miss Foray founded the Annie Awards, annual American awards for accomplishments in animation. She was also instrumental in the creation of an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Legendary animator Chuck Jones once said, , "June Foray is not the female Mel Blanc, Mel Blanc was the male June Foray." Mr. Jones's quote shows just how good Miss Foray was as a voice artist. If she was not the greatest voice artist of all time, then she certainly numbered among them. Over the years she certainly voiced a wide variety of voices. She could do "little girl" voices, as she did with Talky Tina in the Twilight Zone episode "Living Doll" and Cindy Lou Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. She could also do old lady voices, the most famous of which was Granny in Warner Bros.' "Sylvester and Tweety" shorts. Miss Foray could even do the voices of young males. In fact, what may be her most famous character was male, Rocket J. Squirrel in the "Rocky and Bullwinkle" franchise. Over the years June Foray provided voices for an amazing array of characters, from Warner Bros.' Witch Hazel to Jokey Smurf.

Of course, June Foray wasn't simply a great voice artist. She was also one of animation's foremost champions. As noted above, she was one of ASIFA-Hollywood's earliest members and it was she who came up with the idea for the Annie Awards. As might be expected, June Foray had a legion of fans, some of them quite famous. When movie critic Leonard Maltin attended the 2007 Oscar nominees luncheon, he asked legendary director Martin Scorsese whom he was most excited to meet. Mr. Scorsese's response was "June Foray." Those fans who were fortunate enough to meet June Foray always came away with fond memories of her. Fans who met her always said the same things about her. She was a woman of class, a true lady, and one of the nicest people one could ever meet. Miss Foray leaves behind a legacy in animation that might never be matched. What is more, she was a truly great lady.

Deborah Watling R.I.P.

Deborah Watling, an actress perhaps best known for playing The Doctor's companion Victoria Waterfield on Doctor Who, died on July 21 2017 at the age of 69. The cause was lung cancer.

Deborah Watling was born on January 2 1948 in London. Her parents were actors Jack Wilding and Patricia Hicks. Her half-sister Dilys, her brother Giles, and her sister Nicky also went into acting. Deborah Watling grew up in Epping, Essex until the family moved to Alderton Hall in Loughton, Essex. She attended various schools and considered becoming a dentist until she found out how many exams would be required to do so. She then enrolled at the Italia Conti stage school.

Miss Watling made her television debut in 1958 as a regular on the TV show The Invisible Man. She played Sally Wilson, the niece of Peter Brady (the invisible man of the title). She was also a regular on the comedy A Life of Bliss. She guest starred on the TV shows William Tell and The Wednesday Play.

It was in 1967 that she began playing Victoria Waterfield, one of the companions of the Second Doctor (played by Patrick Troughton) on Doctor Who. Deborah Watling appeared in 40 episodes of the series, and left the show in 1968. Sadly, because of BBC's policy wiping programmes at the time,  "The Tomb of the Cybermen" and "The Enemy of the World" are the only serials in which she appeared that have survived. Miss Watling was later a regular on the drama The Newcomers alongside her father Jack Watling. She guest starred on the shows The Power Game, This Man Craig, Out of the Unknown, Horizon, and No Hiding Place.

In the Seventies Miss Waterfield had a recurring role on Danger UXB. She guest starred on such shows as Crimes of Passion, ITV Sunday Night Drama, Doctor in Charge, Arthur of the Britons, Rising Damp, and Lillie. She appeared in the films That'll Be the Day (1973) and Take Me High (1973).

In the Eighties she had a recurring role on The Jim Davidson Show. She later reprised her role as Victoria in Dimensions in Time (a charity crossover between Doctor Who and EastEnders), Downtime, a direct-to-video spinoff of Doctor Who, and various Doctor Who audio dramas. She appeared as herself in the Doctor Who 50th anniversary homage and spoof The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.

Even though only two of the serials survive in which she appeared, it seems likely that Deborah Watling will always be remembered as Victoria on Doctor Who. Victoria was a somewhat naive, young orphan taken in by The Doctor. It was not unusual for her to scream when frightened, something which proved to be of use in the last serial in which she appeared. In Fury from the Deep, the sentient and malevolent seaweed can only be repulsed by loud, shrill noises, including Victoria's screams. Of course, Deborah Watling was much more than Victoria. On Danger UXB she played a character very far removed from the innocent Victoria--the nymphomaniac Norma. In Take Me High she actually got to perform a duet with Sir Cliff Richard in his final film. Deborah Watling may always be remembered as Victoria, she appeared on several other TV shows and in films.